Barry Hearn has called for the shareholders of the British Darts Organisation to decide whether it should accept a £1million takeover bid from the rival Professional Darts Corporation of which he is chairman.
Hearn has offered to buy the BDO and also invest a further £1million into the grass roots of the game, an offer rejected by BDO founder Olly Croft as a ‘cheap publicity stunt’.
But Hearn has questioned Croft's authority and claimed as a director of the BDO he must put the offer to the organisation's shareholders, the 66 county darts organisations which make up its membership.
Hearn said: ‘I don't believe Olly Croft is in a position to turn down the offer.
‘The BDO claim they have a democratically elected board and a county structure that form their shareholders - so why don't they go through the proper procedures to discuss this offer?
‘I'm interested in the response of the counties to both the PDC's offer and Olly Croft's claims.’
Croft's initial response to Hearn's offer was: ‘This is nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt and has nothing to do with unifying the sport but has everything to do with his (Hearn's) inflated ego and perceived self-importance.’
